Heyo everyone. This is my first time posting on here although I’ve been lurking here for a couple months. I just wanted to know if anyone else experienced or experiences loneliness as a sole proprietor? I’m 21 and originally my friend started the window cleaning business then things happened and he decided he’s going to focus on real estate so this business sort of got passed along to me.
I am now the sole proprietor. I feel somewhat lonely now because I realize this business is 100% on my shoulders. I love it but I also feel sad since my good friend and partner won’t be around anymore. I also drank last night quite a bit for st patricks day so it could also be contributing to me being somewhat lonely :P. I’m 21! So I’m curious if anyone went through a similar experience when they were first starting out.
Most of us on the forum are solos or small operations so it helps to discuss techniques, ideas and courses of action with each other. Frequently the posts help to confirm and reinforce things we are reviewing.
i don’t think that’s what he meant, i think he meant that when you feel the weight of the business being 100% on you, come here for advice, councel and comradery
Hey! I do know what you are going through! I inherited about 15 clients from a friend of my parents, I’m just entering my 3rd year of service and I am 19. I’ve grown that list to 22 over the last few months, hadn’t put any effort into expanding until this year. I also just moved into my own apartment, and that has made a huge difference in my life. I spend a lot of time by myself, although I do have a girlfriend that I see frequently. This is an interesting phase in my life, can’t wait to see where it takes me! Just echoing what they said, a lot of us are one man shows, so if you need any help just ask! I can’t offer all that much as of yet, but everyone else here is super helpful and kind! Hope to see you posting around here!
Wonderful! Congratulations on being 19 and having a business with a customer base. Are they residential I’m curious? I got 2 storefront accounts and this business is pretty fresh for me. The satisfaction I had when I was able to sell myself to a dunkin donuts manager and book the job for $40 monthly. He said “You’re too expensive” etc, but I was able to convince him.
It’s just a little void I feel since I had a support but now it’s 100% up to me. I need a little time to heal but once I get over that and my slight tiredness from drinking last night, I should be able to crush it! Only see upside from this!
Also props to moving out. I would love to do that as soon as I can after I graduate from college.
Thank you! I have 22 monthly and/or twice monthly commercial clients, most of them 20 and 15$ jobs, but several bigger ones, plus I’ve got a couple close to 100$ clients that I should be able to close with. I’m only making about 450 a month doing my route, but it’s growing and i do a fair amount of residential during the warm months. Haha, yeah, good luck to you, man!
I prefer to do WC solo but I like to have company for the janitorial and carpet cleaning I do in the evenings. Since I can’t afford very much help during the slow winter months I mitigate by listening to podcasts and music.
You will usually find that the job of the owner or the job of the person “most in charge” always has a bit of loneliness to it. Groups and forums can be helpful.
Years ago I noticed one of our route window cleaners was strapping his towel bin into the passenger seat of the work truck every day. All the other guys would keep the towel bins in the bed of the truck. I asked him about it and he said route work is lonely and the bin makes me feel like someone is in the truck with me.
I switched him to a residential crew shortly after that.
Sometimes being solo is a lonely path, but if you find ways to connect to others it helps. There are many way to do this these days, forums, social media, podcasts, etc.
The mind craves connections, figure out ways to make those connections, it helps.
I had that kind of thing happen well into my career. I grew up in a window cleaning family, my dad and I worked together for many years, I started around 12-13 and worked with him for most of my 35 years, aside from about 8 years when I was learning water-fed in California. He passed on about 6 years ago, it has been tough, to work with the same guy, a great guy, and an experienced guy, then to go to an empty seats. I have never been able to replace him, his knowledge and experience, his work ethics and standards, I doubt such a replacement exists? As for running the business, I am never alone in that, even though it is mine to run, my wife is here to help, a few friends help me along the way, and I even work with other window cleaners from time to time. I have also grown to see the beauty in working solo, at least from time to time, especially on water-fed jobs. Pro and cons to working solo.
Never look as it being lonely its you being in control of the future. Ok enough of the hallmark
Look if you do route work talk to people I’ve found more weekly friends once I started with a simple Good morning as they past by and so many business contacts with taking a few minutes just to chat up the owners and staff. Like @wps said The mind craves connections - you just have to make the first contact.
That’s great to hear. Someone like yourself at 19 making 450 a month is better than making 0 a month am I right? haha. What a coincidence how you’ve inherited 15 customers because my mom just this morning said some dunkin donuts manger has 26 stores and he wants window cleaning in those stores. Just a side story: I’ve been cleaning windows since like I was maybe 16 or 17 in New York. So right from an early age I learned from the best of the best on how to clean windows. I consider myself an expert although there might be a few things I’m unaware of.
So this manager talked to my mom and she referred him to my dad who also has his own window cleaning business and simultaneously he’s an employee in New York. He has a partner but they don’t seem to want to be business owners. They just like their pretty good high paying jobs and having something on the side. Which is nothing wrong with that. They primarily focus on residential and I will do but I also want to have steady work so hopefully something happens with that and I land another 26 jobs. I got 2 jobs so far and I have perhaps 3 more in the future that I know I’ll get called on. Hopefully the opportunity lands in my plate!
Haha, yeah, good luck to you, man! 
